Train-control system for railroads



June 11, 1929.

c. s. BUSHNELL TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEM FOR RAILROADS Original Filed Jan.26. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet NVENT R ,4 A'IZTORNEY Fla! June 11, 1929. c. s.BUSHNELL TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEM FOR RAILROADS 2 Sheet-She et 2 OriginalFiled Jan. 26. 1922 RNEY a jswv NTOR Patented June 11, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT mm CHARLES S. BUSHNELL, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK,ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL RAIL- WAY SIGNAL COMPANY, OF ROCHESTER, YORK.

Original application filed January 26, 1922, Serial No. 531,903. Dividedand this applieation'filed.

November 22, 1926.

This invention relates in generalto receivers for use in automatic traincontrol systems, and has more particular reference to an improved meansfor mounting and supporting receivers, in operative position 011 railwayvehicles.

The present application is a division of my co-pending application, Ser.531,908 filed Jan. 26, 1922, for train control systems for railroads.

In mountingreceivers on railway vehicles, it may be consideredpreferable to mount them on the vehicle trucks rather than on thebodies, in order to have the receivers fixed to parts which hear aninvariable spaced relation to the track, so as to avoid too greatchanges in the distance between the receivers and fixed, cooperating,trackway inductors. At the same time, it isdesirable to protect thereceivers from shock by means of cushioning support means permittin onlyvery limited motion of the receivers relative to their supports. 7 i

WVith the above andother objects in mind, it is proposed, according tothis invention, to provide a mounting for receivers of the charactersetl'orthabove, fulfilling the above requirements.

Further objects, purposes,'and characteristic features of this inventionwill appear as the description progresses, reference being bad to theaccompanying drawings, given solely by way of example, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side view of one form of a car element and its support,parts being broken away and shown in section for clearness;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary diagrammatic perspective view showing featuresofthe construction of the spring mounting for the car element shown inFig. 1;

Fig. 3 illustrates one typical application of the car element to aconventional construction of car truck; v

Fig. a is avertical longitudinal section through the car element, takenon the line 1l of Fig. 1. j V

Generally stated, the car element and mounting comprises a supportingbracket firmly connected in some suitable manner to some part of thevehicle, preferably the car truck, side frame, pony, truck or similarpart Serial No. 150,131.

flexible skirt or apron, connecting the hous,

ing of the car element and the hanger, being provided to keep out snow,ice, moisture and weather generally. 1 p

More specifically, and referring to the drawings, the supporting bracketE is ofa,

general flat shape ZII'ld'lS provided near the middle, toward the bottomend, with a hollow boss 103 containing a nut for anchoring a hook bolt104, which is hooked about the side frame 105 of the car truck, as mostclearly illustrated in Fig. 4'. The top portion of the supportingbracket E is-providedwith holes to receive U bolts 106 extending aroundthe top brace of the side frame 105 of the car truck. Thelower frontface of the bracket E is formed with saw tooth ridges 107. To

this supporting bracket E, the hood or hanger F, which is provided withsimilar saw tooth ridges engagingthe ridges 107 of the bracket, isclamped by bolts 108 passing through slots in'the hanger (see Fig. 1)and having heads in recessed bosses integral with the back of bracket E(see Fig. l) thus providing a firm connecting means between thesetwodevices which allowsa vertical adjustment of the car element withrespect to the truck.

This hanger F is preferably cast of nonmagnetic material, such asmanganese steel, in the general form of an inverted rectangular box-likecasing having an integral vertical flange which is bolted to the bracketE. c The hanger F is provided at the top with an opening of rectangularshape and is surroundedby upstanding flanges formmg walls of'a, pocketinwhich is fastened a terminal board 109 of insulating material. Thisterminal board 109 is provided with plugsmade of conducting materialforming the male members of a quick detachable connector. Over thisconnector pocket is screw-fastened a cap 110 provided with an insulatingterminal board-111 containing the femalemembers of said connector.The'top of this cap 110 is bossed and pipe-threaded to firmly hold theconduit pipe 112 for carrying the lead-in.

wires from the top terminal board 111 of the quick detachable connector.These wires are carried from the rigid conduit 112 to the car body by asuitable flexible conduit 113, as illustrated. The bottom part of thehood or hanger F is hollow to receive the car element casing G; and neareach end of the hood or hanger are bosses for receiving two cross pins111, these cross pins being locked in place by small transverse pins(see Fig. 1)

The car element casing G comprises a casting of non-magnetic material,such as aluminum or manganese steel, of a shape to closely fit about theyoke and coils ofthe car element illustrated, and has'its middle portionflattened to the thickness of the yoke. The top part of the car elementcasing G is provided with a longitudinal raised rib 115, as more clearlyillustrated in the fragmentary perspective view shown in Fig. 2. Themiddle of this raised rib 115 is raised further to form a boss 116,across which is riveted a retaining plate 117 of a length to projectbeyond each side of the raised rib 115 Directly below the ends and oneach side of the retaining plate 117, the casing G is provided with projections 118 forming shoulders. Near each end of the raised rib 115 ofthe casing is riveted a stop bar 119, which extends on each side of saidraised rib, substantially the same distance as the retaining plate 117.The rivets for fastening the stop bar 119 also pass through aplate 120provided with an extending lip projecting over the pin 11 1 and forminga top limiting stop. The car elementcasing G has a projecting lug 121cast integral therewith and disposed directly un der the extending lipof the plate 120, thus forming a bottom limiting stop.

Bylooking at the fragmentary perspective View in Fig. 2, and bearing inmind that the left hand end, which is identical with the right hand end,has been omitted, it will be noted that, if a flat spring 122 (whichtends to' bow up and is straightened considerably as it is-inserted) ispositioned to have its ends bear on top of the stop bars 119 and itsmiddle portion bearing under the retaining plate 117, the spring 122will be under initial tension. -Likewise, if another such spring 123,turned with its convex side downward,

is inserted to-have its ends rest under the stop bars 119 and its middleportion rest on top of the shoulder 118, another initially tensionedspring is thus provided. The back side of the car element casing isprovided with similar springs 122 and 123. This car element casing G isinserted into the bottom end of the hood F, and the pins 114, which areof substantially the same diameter as the thickness of the stop bars119, are passed be tween the ends of the initially tensioned springs 122and 123. The ends of the stop 1 bars 119 are arranged tostrike raisedsurfaces 011 the insideof the hood F (see Fig. 41-) and limit sidewisemovement of the casing G with respect to the hood F.

The yoke 124 of the car element is of general U shape, as snown, havingits back yoke portion of rectangular crosssec tion and constructed of agood quality of laminated tran former iron, and having its legs ofcruciform cross section, this cross section being formed by narrowlaminations riveted tp the main lainniations of the legs. In assembling,the yoke 124: is passed into the casing G, the middle portion of thecasing being just wide enough to allow it to pass into the same Thelead-in wires are then passed into the casing and up through thegrommets or insulating bushings 125 (only one of which is shown) and upto the terminal board 109 of the quick detachable connector. The primaryand secondary coils P and S are then passed over the legs of the yoke124:, and iron pole pieces 126 are bolted against the casing by boltswith countersunk heads, as shown. Dowel pins 127, riveted into the polepieces 12 6, lit in holes provided in the ends ofthe legs. fter thesepole pieces 126 are tightly drawn up against the casing G, the retainingscrews 128 (only one of? which is illustrated) are tightened and lockedby the lock nut shown. In order to completely close up the bottom of thecasing G, a non-magnetic plate 129, preferably of heavy fiber, wood, orother insulating material, is screw-fastenedto the casing between thepole pieces, as illustrated. If desired, the casing Gr may be filledwith suitable insulating compound which, after it sets, holds the coilsand lead wires firmly.

Assume a railway vehicle provided with the car element and mounting justdescribed, is moving along at a high velocity. When passing over fairlysmooth and well ballasted trackway, the initiallytensioncd springs willbear. against the stop bar continuously and support the car elementrigidly; but if an unusual ar should occur, let us say tending to movethe car element downward, the top springs 122 and 122 will be furtherflexed allowing the ear element and casing G to move downward withrespect to the hood 1 If a similar jar occurs tending to move the carelement upward, the bottom springs and 123 will be further flexedallowing such 7 movement,

In train control systems of the inductive type, it is important to carrythe car element in such a way as to maintain a small and uniform air gapspacing with respect to the track elements. For this reason, itispreferred to support the car element from the truck side frame or thelike, rather than the spring supported car body; but when this is done,it is'desirable to provide a spring mounting for the car element toprotect it from injury by the severe pounding and shocks to which it issubjected. Springs under initial tension are employed to mainturbaiiccs.

tical up and rails,

the working air gap between the r tain the car element in the desiredposition until subjected to a jolt or jar of a magnitude thatniightinjure it. The strength of the springs is selected to avoid displacementof the car element enough to affect the worke c. o 2 all mean ahtension, th lo n t ict ga is h e or,

or: follow up, but serve to return the car element to its neutralposition after each displacement without bobbing or vibratory dis- Inshort, the initially tensioned springs with the stops, afforded by stopbars 119 and pins ll hinaintainin he car element in the desiredposition, with desired air gap, and also protected from injury. Thespring mounting shown and described allows transverse oscillation aswell as verdown movement.

The wash-board adjustment of the casing G with respect to the bracket Eallows the car element to be raised or lowered to compensate forvariations due to wheel wear or substitution of new wheels. Thedetachable connector allows removal of the entire car truck from underthe car body, without disconnection of wires, the parts of the connectorbeing constructed so that they cannot be united except in the right wayto make the proper circuit connections.

Rail interferenca-In the type of inductive train control system in whicha controlling influence is produced on the car by virtue of the magneticproperties'of a track element, it will be evident that a similar effectwill be produced by other magnetic bodies along the trackway, such asswitch points and track rails at crossings, water pans, switch stands,and the like. Sii ce track element is purposely constructed of ironlaminatedto avoid the weakening effect of eddy currents it will, ofcourse be superior, in changing the reluctance of a partial magneticcircuit on the ear, to track. rails and like magnetic bodies ordinarilyencounted along a railway track,

WVhen the track elements, however, are located between track rails,their upper surfaces must necessarily be on a level with,

or somewhat below, the tops of the track in order to avoid being struckby low hanging parts of vehicles; and these limitations, moreparticularly ifit'be attempted to keep the space bet-ween the trackrails clear for the flanges otsnow plows, makes re ular track elementand the car element greater than between a track rail and said carelement, with the result that the track rail has an advantage, so tospeak, over the track element with respect .to the air gap, and mayunder unfavorable conditions cause a false or unnecessary operation ofthe train control apparatus. i

NVhilevarious expedients may be employed to neutralize or minimize thisrail interference, in accordance with the present invention it isproposed to dispose the-track elements outside of the track rails, inorder that they may have their pole pieces elevated some distance abovethe plane of thetops vof the running track rails. YVit-hthis dispositionof track elen'ients, the car element being of course locatedaccordingly, the Working plane'of the car and track eleinentsis'considera-bly above the level of the one or the other of theruniiingrails, and

with their working plane or center of the air gap 2 inches above thelevel'of the top of the running rails.

Assuming now" that an exceptional jar should occur, either the top orbottom sg irin g' would be flexed to its liinit, that is, to such anextent that either the top or bottom limiting stop (depending upon thedirection of the ar) would strike the pins llt, thus allowing no furtherrelative movement be} tweenthe casing and hood. These limit stops areprovided to limit the movemei'rt-of the car element with respect to thetruck ofthe vehicle, so that the car element can not j ai out of placein one direction to an extent to strike track element, or inthe.otherdirecill) track rails, so that thetrack rails and other i:

tion to an extent to, get out of the range of influence of. atrack*element. If "desired, theselimiting stops may comprise another setof initially tensioned springs, rubber, or

like buffing means; v

Since in the present device theca-r element and the hood WllllllOVQ"with respect to each other when ars and vibrations occur,

and since it isj'desirable' to protect the initially tensionedspringdevice, as-wellas-the coils and lead-in wires from snow, 1ce,' and mois-H tnre, a yieldable means for protecting these devicesfrom the weatherhas been provided. In the particular form illustrated, this meanscomprises a skirt or apron 130.0f canvas, or

similar material, fastened by drawing it intov grooves in the hood andcasing, respectively, by suitable bindingmeans, such as wires 131, orthe like.

V clamp means for rigidly Having described my invention I now claim 1. Areceiving device for inductive automatic train control systems,comprising, a non-magnetic casing, a substantially U- shaped core ofmagnetic material, adjustable clamping said core in said casing, awinding on said core, and

means for adjustably securing said device to a railway vehicle.

2. A receiving device for inductive automatic train control systems,comprising, a nonanagnetic casing having depending legs, a magnetic coremounted within, said casing, a coil on said core within each of saiddepending legs, an upwardly extending supporting plate connected tosaidcasing, and means on said plate for permitting said device to be adjustably secured to a support.

3. A receiving device for inductive automatic train control systems,comprising, a non-magnetic metallic casing having an enlargedi hollowportion of inverted U-shape, pole pieces secured to the ends of saidenlarged hollow portion, and a U-shaped core of magnetic materialconnected to said pole pieces within said casing, and a coil on saidcore.

4. In combination with a railway vehicle having atruck frame secured toa journal box, a receiving device for inductive automatic train controlsystems,fcomprising, a magnetic core having a coil thereon and mountedwithin a non-magnetic casing, means clamping said core in said casing, asupporting plate resiliently mounted on said casing, a bracket rigidlysecured to said truck frame adjacent said journal box, and means on saidplateand on said bracket for permitting vertical adjustment between saidreceiving device and said railway vehicle.

5. A car element for receiving control influences from track elementshaving the magnetic propertles of iron when in their mflufencetransmitting condition, and means for resiliently supporting said carelement for limited movement in a vertical plane, from the vehicle, atsuch a distance above intersect- 'ing crossing rails as to not receive acontrol influence from crossing rails and the like.

6. A car element for receiving control influences from track elementshaving the magnetic properties of iron when in their in fluencetransmitting condition spring suspended from the vehicle at such adistance above intersecting crossing rails as to not re ceive a controlinfluence therefrom; said spring suspension comprising, opposedinitially tensioned springs holding said element in a predeterminedrelation to the track and having stops so that one spring can not followup the other when said other spring is further tensioned by movement ofsaid car element due to jars and vibration.

7 A spring suspended car element for automatic train control systemscomprising, a supporting bracket, a car element consisting of a core ofmagnetic material having a coil thereon, and means forsupporting saidcar element from said bracket comprising, a plurality of initiallytensioned springs tensioned to urge said element in opposite directions,and stops for preventing said springs from moving further than theirnormal posi tion in the direction in which they are biased as saidelement is jarred out or its normal position.

8. In a spring suspended car element, the combination of a supportingbracket, a car element comprising a core having a winding thereon,spring means for supporting said element from said bracket, and aflexible apron extending from said bracket to said element around saidspring means.

9. In a receiver for automatic train control,

a non-magnetic casing, core and coil structure in the casing, a bracketfixed to a railway vehicle, a hanger ad ustably connected to thebracket, int-erengaging toothed surfaces on the bracket and hanger, anda resil ient connection between the hanger and casing. 7 1

10. In a receiver for automatic t ain control, a non-magnetic casing,core and coil structure in the casing, a bracketfixed to a railwayvehicle, a hanger adjustably connected to the bracket, interengagingtoothed surfaces on the bracket and hanger, a resilient connectionbetween the casing and the hanger, and rigid cooperating stop memberspositively limiting relative motion between the casing and hanger inopoosite directions.

11. In a receiver for automatic train con trol, a non-magnetic casingcontaining a coil and core structure, a hanger resiliently connected tothe casing, a bracket fixed to a railway vehicle, and means to adjustably connect the hanger to the bracket.

12. In a receiver'for automatic traincontrol, a non-magnetic casingcontaining a coil and core structure, a hanger resiliently connectedto'the casing, a bracket fixed to a railway vehicle, and bolt and slotmeans to adustably connect the hanger to the bracket.

13. In a receiver for automatic train control, a non-magnetic casingcontaining a coil and core structure, a hanger resiliently connected tosaid casing for limited relative motion, a bracket fixed to a railwayVehicle, bolt and slot means to adjustably connect the hanger to thebracket, and interengaging teeth on the hanger and bracket to aid inholding such members in set position. I

14. A receiver for inductive train control systems, comprising, a coreand coil struc- 5 ture, a non-magnetic casing containing said structure,a hanger connected to said casing,

a support bracket carried by a car frame,

means for adj ustably connectingsaid hanger to said bracket, a terminalbox on said hanger, and a quick detachable coupler in said box 10 forconnection of lead in Wires for the coil structure. V y V In testimonywhereof I aflix my signature.

CHARLES S. BUSHNELL.

